by Linda Kay

Directed by: Herbert G. Ponting

Synopsis: A fascinating silent documentary filmed on location with Captain Robert F. Scott’s team as they set out on an expedition to be the first men to reach the South Pole.

Reality Cat: Featured in one segment is the ship’s cat and mascot of the expedition, whose now politically incorrect name we will not share here (it begins with ‘N’). A sailor (named Lees) is playfully rough housing with the cat in his arms.

A caption card points out that the cat is the only feline who had ever been so far south before inviting the audience to watch him jump. Sailor Lees places the cat on the ground and holds his arms out in a circle. The cat attempts to jump through his arms but misses and falls back onto the snow.

A caption card says the cat gets three tries so they attempt the stunt again. This time the cat makes it. And just to prove it wasn’t a fluke they do it again for the camera.

This scene was also included in the re-edited sound version of the documentary entitled 90 Degrees South, albeit the scene is slightly shorter.

Behind the Scenes

This black cat (described as “old” and a stowaway in different articles) was part of the Terra Nova crew but newspaper reports state that Scott’s party also consisted of two additional cats, although we could find no other information about them.

Various stories published in newspapers long after the expedition’s end purport to tell the story of “N—–” and his exploits aboard the ship. A 1936 write-up in the Cairn Post went into great detail about how the black kitten casually walked on board the Terra Nova while it lay in a West India dock taking on supplies for Scott’s mission. His presence was deemed a good omen and he was welcomed aboard as the “cherished mascot of every hard-bitten member of her crew.”

During the voyage the cat developed an insatiable taste for seal blubber and he would reportedly indulge in the oily meal until “his little innards were swollen like a football.” The consequential billious attacks would last some 48 hours. He would then retire to his favorite spot while in the Polar regions; a flat surface upon one of the angle-irons across the stokehold some ten feet above the deck plates where he could keep warm and comfortable.

The article went on to explain how this adventurous cat developed a game in which he would follow a specific path of his own discovery by which he could pass through the numerous sled dogs tethered out of reach of each other without getting in reach of the canines’ jaws. Over time the cat would even purposefully wander into the danger zone only to jump back as the dogs sprang at him.

The story jumped to Christmas Eve, 1911, when Lieutentant Commander Pennell, who was captain of the Terra Nova on her return voyage to Antarctica to bring new supplies and dogs to Scott’s men, was on the bridge and witnessed “N—–” up to his old tricks, baiting the dogs on the poopdeck. The cat reportedly came too close to one dog and, while avoiding the pup’s snap, jumped back and fell overboard. Perhaps this was a sign that Scott’s expedition would not go as planned, given the fact that the cat was considered such a good omen to everyone.

An interesting tale, but is it factual? Perhaps not. In a 1949 issue of the Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer, Mr. Edward McKenzie, a member of the original expedition, was interviewed during an exhibition of relics from the doomed mission that coincided with the release of the film Scott of the Antarctic. Regarding “N—–“, McKenzie related that the tiny kitten was brought aboard the Terra Nova in Portsmouth, England, and adopted by the crew. After an early accident in which the cat toppled through a skylight, a crew member made him a hammock and pillow which became the cat’s berth from then on.

The story went on to say the cat had weekly baths and was placed in the ovens to dry. And one time when frightened by the dogs the poor kitty fell overboard but was rescued, rubbed down and warmed in the oven plus given a drink of whiskey and milk.

The tale of the cat’s demise differs greatly in this article which stated that “N—–” would accompany crew members as they climbed upon the yard arms and how one night during a gale the poor cat was swept from the icy spars and lost in the raging sea. “Just another example of the bad luck that persisted throughout the voyage,” McKenzie stated.

It’s hard to say which of these accounts (if either) are true but the film footage afforded us by Ponting’s documentary make it clear that “N—–” was a plucky little ship’s cat who lived a life of adventure.

Final Mewsings: If you had four bare paws on the frozen tundra you’d jump, too!

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